Abstract: This collection consists of oral history interviews with faculty from the University of Delaware Department of Women and Gender Studies, conducted as part of the 2011 "Women at the Center" project. The interviews, mainly conducted by Professor Marie Laberge of the Women and Gender Studies Department, discuss various topics relating to the creation and development of the Women's Studies program at the University of Delaware as well as the personal experiences of each interviewee. The collection also features interviews with students from the 2012 graduating class of Women's Studies who were in Professor Laberge's Spring 2012 semester Senior Capstone class. Each interview is accompanied by a tape log, which summarizes the topics discussed by the participants.

Language: Materials entirely in
English.

Administrative Information

Citation

MSS 664, University of Delaware Women's Studies oral history collection, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark,
Delaware.

An 18 minute, 46 second video consisting of edited interviews from the Women at the Center project is available on YouTube

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Terms Governing Use and
Reproduction

Use of materials from this collection beyond the
exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S.
Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is
required from the copyright holder. Please contact Special Collections, University of Delaware Library,
http://www.lib.udel.edu/cgi-bin/askspec.cgi

Historical Note

In 2011, the University of Delaware Department of Women and Gender Studies initiated the project Women at the Center, created to document the early history of the creation of Women’s Studies program at the university. This project was created to provide essential documentation for situating the University of Delaware’s leadership in the academic feminist movement in the United States. The University of Delaware’s Women’s Studies Interdisciplinary Program was one of the first programs of its kind in the United States. It was formalized in 1973, shortly after the first women’s studies interdisciplinary programs developed in New York and California in 1970. Several nationally renowned scholars who helped shape the field of women’s studies in the 1970s led UD's program in the early years.
The University of Delaware was a creative center for the development of women’s studies as a discipline, due to a critical mass of feminist scholars associated with the emerging program. Faculty collaboration and the newly designed classes made the University of Delaware a center of research and teaching.

Several of these key scholars started their careers at the University of Delaware. They include Akasha (Gloria) Hull, who pioneered research in African American women's literature, and worked to recover the history of African American writers in Delaware; Sandra G. Harding, who was and continues to be a central figure in bringing feminist perspectives to the study of science; Bonnie Kime Scott, a key figure in the study of feminist perspectives in Irish and British literature, especially the work of James Joyce; Margaret L. Anderson, whose work in the sociology of gender is nationally renowned and whose book Thinking about women and rethinking sociology is an important text in the field; Barbara Kelly, who promoted gender equity in women's sports; and Barbara Timms Gates, a central figure in bringing eco-feminist perspectives to the study of women's writing, especially the writing of female naturalists.

The Women at the Center project also includes interviews with several key administrators and staff who were essential to the foundation of Women’s Studies, such as Mae Riedy Carter, chair in the early 1970s of both the Commission on the Status of Women as well as the Women’s Studies Committee, which helped establish the earliest Women’s Studies classes on campus. In addition to their research, these scholars and administrators worked to establish the foundation on which the current Women’s Studies Department was built.
The project included interviewing key actors (faculty, administrators, and staff) in the formation of the Women’s Studies Interdisciplinary Program, as it was first known, at the University of Delaware. Professor Marie Laberge, faculty in the Department of Women’s Studies and an expert in oral history data collection and analysis, collected these stories and conducted archival research at the University of Delaware Library. Professor Laberge collected both the historical memory and actual historical record of this history. This initial effort was supplemented by the WOMS 2012 Capstone graduate class in feminist oral history.

The project gathered essential primary sources on the history and origins of the 20th century academic feminist movement, otherwise unavailable to the University of Delaware community and the United States at large. The project also recorded the significant role that the faculty, administrators and staff played in the development of Women’s Studies.

Sources:

Historical information provided by the donor.

Scope and Content Note

This collection consists of oral history interviews with faculty from the University of Delaware Department of Women and Gender Studies, conducted as part of the 2011 "Women at the Center" project. The interviews, mainly conducted by Professor Marie Laberge of the Women and Gender Studies Department, discuss various topics relating to the creation and development of the Women's Studies program at the University of Delaware as well as the personal experiences of each interviewee. The collection also features interviews with students from the 2012 graduating class of Women's Studies who were in Professor Laberge's Spring 2012 semester Senior Capstone class. Each interview is accompanied by a tape log, which summarizes the topics discussed by the participants.

These unedited oral history interviews document the formation of the Women’s Studies Department at the University of Delaware and record the activities of the faculty, staff, and administrators who worked to create the Department. In addition to the challenges of creating a Women's Studies program, the topics discussed by the interviewees include educational backgrounds, professional histories and achievements, personal projects, global/national developments in the Women's movement, and future goals. Interviews were also conducted with members of the Spring 2012 semester Women's Studies capstone class taught by Marie Laberge. The students discuss their reasons for becoming Women's Studies majors and the effect it has had on their lives.

All interviews are accompanied by a tape log, which features a brief biography of the interviewees, location of the interview, and general summary of the topics discussed. More detailed topic summaries are given along with a time stamp, denoting where in the interview (minute and seconds) the topics are discussed. The interviews with the Spring 2012 semester Senior Capstone class are accompanied by a transcript rather than a tape log.

Although the majority of the oral history interviews were conducted by Professor Marie Laberge, there are several which were conducted by Women's Studies students (Kenneth Adams, Anna Asher, Elise Wolpert, Emily Bonistall, and Sarah Foster).

Selected Search Terms

Personal Names

Andersen, Margaret L.

Carter, Mae R.

Cherrin, Suzanne.

Gates, Barbara T., 1936-

Golinkoff, Roberta M.

Harding, Sandra G.

Hull, Gloria T.

Kelly, Barbara J.

Laberge, Marie.

Palley, Marian Lief, 1939-

Schiffman, Jessica R.

Scott, Bonnie Kime, 1944-

Settles, Barbara H.

Shafi, Monika

Stetz, Margaret D. (Margaret Diane), 1953-

Corporate Names

University of Delaware. Department of Women and Gender Studies.

Topical Terms

Feminism and higher education--United States--History--20th century.

Feminism and higher education--United States--History--21st century.

Women's studies--United States--History--20th century.

Women's studies--United States--History--21st century.

Geographic Names

Newark (Del.)

Form/Genre Terms

Oral histories (document genres)

Interviews.

Occupation

Professors (teacher)

Students.

Arrangement

Oral history interviews are arranged alphabetically by last name.

Detailed Contents List

2012 Women's Studies capstone students
, 2012 May 7

These interviews were conducted with several members of the 2012 Graduating Class of Women’s Studies who
were in Dr. Marie Laberge’s Senior capstone class in the Spring 2012 semester.

Dr. Margaret Andersen is a Professor of Sociology and Women’s Studies at the University of Delaware. She
is also executive director of the University of Delaware President’s Diversity Initiative and co-chair of the
Diversity and Equity Commission. She served as Chair of Women’s Studies Interdisciplinary Program from
1981 to 1985.

Shakuntla Bhaya is a lawyer with the Delaware law firm of Doroshow, Pasquale, Krawitz, & Bhaya. At the time of the interview, she was
a Women ’s Studies minor as an undergraduate, entering Women’s Studies as a freshman.

Mae Carter helped initiate and chair the Committee on Women's Studies which led to the creation of the
Women’s Studies Interdisciplinary Program in the early 1970s. As Special Advisor to the University of Delaware President’s Office,
she also led the Commission on the Status of Women at UD and was instrumental in the creation of the Office of
Women's Affairs.

Dr. Suzanne J. Cherrin is an Assistant Professor of Women and Gender Studies and has a core
faculty appointment in the Latin American and Iberian Studies Program. She began teaching Women’s
Studies at UD since 1986.

Roberta M. Golinkoff holds the H. Rodney Sharp Chair in the School of Education at the University of
Delaware and is also a member of the Departments of Psychology and Linguistics. She was active in helping to
found Women’s studies.

Sandra Harding is Professor of Social Sciences & Comparative Education and Gender Studies at the University
of Los Angeles. She served as Director of Women’s Studies Interdisciplinary Program at UD from 1985-1989
and 1990 to 1992.

Akasha Hull is a writer, critic, lecturer and professor who has published widely in African American Literature
and women’s studies. She helped organize women’s studies at UD in its early years and served as Director.

Retired now, Dr. Barbara J. Kelly was a driving force in the formation and development of women's
athletics at the University of Delaware. She served as Chair of the Department of Women's
Physical Education in the late 1960s and in various positions with the College of Physical
Education, Athletics, and Recreation. She was active in the early development of Women’s Studies
and served on Committee on Women’s Studies as well as the Commission on the status of Women.

Janet Louise is a retired after 25 years of service as an instructor at the English Language Institute (ELI) at
the University of Delaware. She served as the first office administrator in Women’s Studies in 1975.

Marian Palley is Professor Emerita, UD Department of Political Science and International
Relations. She served as Chair of the Women’s Studies interdisciplinary Program from 1980-1990
and 1999 to 2005.

Dr. Barbara Settles of the University of Delaware is Professor of Human Development and Family
Studies. She was active in the founding of Women’s Studies and served on the Commission on the
Status of Women.

Monika Shafi is the Elias Ahuja Professor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature. She has
served as chairperson for the Department of Women and Gender Studies from 2005-2012 and from 2001 to
the present.

Margaret D. Stetz is the Mae and Robert Carter Professor of Women’s Studies and Professor of Humanities
at the University of Delaware, with secondary appointments in English and in Material Culture Studies. She
has taught Women’s Studies at UD since 2002.